EACC GIVEN NOD TO PROBE ROADS ENGINEER.

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BY SAM ALFAN.

Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has been given a green light by a Nairobi court to investigate a Kilifi resident engineer accused of accumulating more than Sh1.5 billion as kickbacks from road contractors.

In her ruling Justice Mumbi Ngugi said that Benson Muteti Masila and his wife Zipporah Mwongeli were jumping the gun by seeking to bar the EACC and Director of Public Prosecutions from probing his wealth.

“What the petitioners seek is to stop not only the investigations but, in the event that the EACC finds any evidence requiring the prosecution of the 1st petitioner (Muteti), to pre-empt such prosecution by the DPP,” said the Judge.

Muteti, who described himself as a diligent public servant for the last 27 years moved to court accusing the EACC of violating his rights when its officers raided his home in Kilifi in December 2018 and took away money, among other things related to his work.

The Kilifi based resident Engineer also said it has been two years since EACC commenced investigations but the anti-graft body was yet to conclude the probe, violating his rights.

” It was in the public interest that the investigative bodies are allowed to carry out their mandates without interference,”said Mumbi.

The Judge added that there must be very clear and cogent reasons for the court to interfere with the exercise of their powers.

EACC said they are investigating his unexplained wealth in excess of Sh1.5 billion which is not commensurate with his known source of income.

EACC informed the court that Muteti has been receiving bribes and kickbacks from road contractors and has been using his private company to trade with Kerra.

The agency said the couple had grossly undervalued their wealth and there was no documentation proving the value.

According to Muteti, his assets were about Sh100 million and not Sh1.5 billion as alleged. He opened the account as the resident engineer on behalf of Kerra.

Being the regional manager, Muteti said his salary was Sh390,000 while project allowances as the resident engineer for overseeing and supervising several projects were not less than She 750,000 per month, earning him a monthly pay of Sh1.14 million.

Part of the money confiscated were from three schools established by his wife in Makindu between July 2005 and May 2015.

Apart from running the schools, the wife said she does bakery, dairy farming and all kinds of self-generating projects such as supplying schools with uniforms, cakes, break and others.

She also expanded the business to include rental such as Mumbe villas, which gets her Sh300,000 monthly and Mumbe plaza which earns Sh350,000 every month.

The couple also runs a hardware store in Makindu, Makueni and Ruaraka in Nairobi, while their son runs Mumbe Construction.

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